Recipes and Stories from a hungry French girl

apple

My love for fruit-filled cakes is undeniable – whether they are a Tatin or a simple classic cake. And of course, you’ve probably noticed that I have a particular fondness for apple cakes. In the North of France, where I was born and raised, apples are abundant year-round and they are the star of many local desserts (like this sweet Apple Flan) or drinks (like the cider and Chouchen from Brittany and the Calvados liquor from Normandy.)

Here it is, the infamous Calvados and Apple Flan from Normandy! On a recent trip to Normandy, we ate at La Ferme St Michel, and I had the most amazing Calvados and Apple Flan for dessert. It was tender, fruity and intensely fragrant, thanks to the Calvados Apple Brandy. So of course, as soon as I was back in in my kitchen in Canada two weeks later, I couldn’t resist making one (and it certainly won’t be the last one I will be making this fall/winter)! Being from Brittany, I grew up eating the “Far Breton”, which is the same…

The classic French Apple Cake gets a twist with the use of spelt flour; adding nutty notes to its signature buttery crumb filled with big apple clusters. Like in many countries through Fall and Winter, the apple cake is a classic in households. Of all, the French version is probably one the most unpretentious and bare. With no use of cinnamon like in America, nor crumble top, nuts or glaze. A cake reminiscent of the German Versunkener Apfelken or the Russian Sharlotka, both made in similar ways, with more fruit than actual cake dough. Just honest and simply focusing on…

How do the French celebrate Thanksgiving? They don’t. And not only do they not celebrate the holiday, but most French people simply don’t have a single clue of what Thanksgiving is. The younger generation might have an idea of it, from watching American TV series depicting humourous, dysfunctional, binge-eating Thanksgiving episodes (Friends, How I Met Your Mother, Modern Family, among others). But that’s pretty much it.